US mobile market saw growth in Q3 2021, year-on-year

The US phone market has grown in Q3 2021. Volume has increased by one percent year-on-year. Apple still ranks number one, followed by Samsung. Apple’s market actually grew to 42%. What’s more interesting with the numbers is that Motorola came third. Samsung and Motorola actually benefitted from LG’s exit from the mobile business. Counterpoint Research’s Market Monitor service released this report amidst the pandemic and the ongoing shortages of chips and other components. The numbers are only for the United States where we are seeing recoveries.

The trend continues to be upward as per Counterpoint’s Research Director Jeff Fieldhack. He shared that Apple and Samsung together captured 77% of the market. Both brands showed a strong YoY growth with 9% and 18%. About 17% of Apple’s sales were the iPhone 13 even with its late arrival. Samsung sold a lot of foldable phones and 5G phones.

In the low-end market, there are plenty of minor brands showing up like HMD, BLU, and Wiko. They are popular with MVNOs like Total Wireless, TracFone, Simple Mobile, and StraightTalk.

Senior Research Analyst Hanish Bhatia noted, “Carriers too are filling in gaps by increasing the use of white-label devices. There are now four sub-$300 5G white-label devices in the market. This is an important space for the carriers as they want to move their base over to 5G as quickly as possible to help reduce costs and capitalize on their newly built 5G networks.”